How to Install Linux Mint 21 on VirtualBox 7.0

Are you planning to use Linux Mint 21 distribution using Oracle VM VirtualBox 6 & 7? If you have decided, then I have prepared a unique and professional guide for you. With this guide, it doesn’t matter whether you use Windows 10 or Windows 11 on your host computer! I will show you how to install Linux Mint in a virtual environment in the most detailed way.

I covered both installation and advanced configurations. If you follow these carefully, you will be able to use the Linux Mint 21 version on your virtual PC without any problems!

How to Run Linux Mint on a Virtual Machine using Oracle VM VirtualBox 6.1.36

Installing virtualization software such as Oracle VM VirtualBox or any other suitable alternative is necessary to operate an operating system virtually on your host computer. You can make a new virtual computer once you have successfully installed the virtualization software. Subsequently, you can establish and use the operating system of your choice within the virtual environment.

Linux Mint is undoubtedly one of the most highly coveted Linux distributions available. Most Linux entry-level users may choose this distribution because of its easy use and good support platform.

You can easily install software like VirtualBox or VMware on Microsoft Windows platforms and Linux distributions. This way, you can use an operating system virtually without losing performance without installing a dual boot system on your computer.

How to Create a New Virtual Machine for Linux Mint

After successfully installing VirtualBox on your computer, the first step is to create a new virtual appliance and establish your preferred operating system, Windows, Linux, or macOS. Then, you can run it efficiently without any issues.

Step 1

After opening Oracle VM VirtualBox, click New from the icons you see on the homepage, and then type the name of the system you will install in the virtual computer wizard and check the automatically determined values in the Type and Version section.

You can confidently modify the backup location of your Linux Mint virtual machine by either selecting a different location or sticking with the default one.

Step 2

Set the Memory Size setting to a suitable value according to the RAM size of your host computer. If your PC contains 16GB of RAM, allocating a memory size of 8GB to your virtual machine is safe.

Step 3

Since you will install a Linux Mint from scratch in the Hard Disk configuration, check the Create a virtual hard disk now switch and continue.

Step 4

Configure the virtual hard disk file type as Oracle recommended VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image) and continue.

Step 5

You can allocate your virtual disk dynamically or fixedly on your physical computer. If you choose the Dynamically Allocated option, space will be given from your host as much as the disk space required by the guest machine.

When you choose Fixed Size, when you configure the size of the virtual disk as 40 GB, the space you specify from your host disk will be allocated.

Step 6

Configure the virtual disk size of the Linux Mint guest machine to 40 GB or higher, and click Create after checking the backup location.

Step 7

Click Settings to configure the hardware settings of the Linux Mint virtual computer better.

Step 8

Open General / Advanced settings and change Shared Clipboard and Drag’n’Drop properties to Bidirectional so you can transfer files or copy text between host and VM.

Step 9

Disable Floppy from the devices in the Boot Order section in the System / Motherboard hardware settings and configure the Optical device as primary in the boot phase.

Step 10

In the motherboard settings, specify a suitable number of virtual processors according to the CPU power of your host computer in the Processor setting.

Step 11

Leave the Paravirtualization Interface value as Default in the Acceleration settings. VirtualBox automatically determines the default value for the guest operating system you create.

Step 12

After enabling the 3D Acceleration feature in the Display settings, increase the Video Memory size to 128 MB.

Step 13

Open the Storage device settings and delete the IDE Controller.

Step 14

Select SATA Controller and enable the Host I/O Cache feature under Attributes on the right.

Step 15

Configure the Linux Mint.vdi virtual disk file as a Solid-State Drive (SSD).

Step 16

After selecting the SATA controller, click the optical drive icon and the Leave Empty button in the Optical Disk Selector window.

Step 17

After adding a blank optical drive, click the CD/DVD icon to add the Linux Mint ISO file to the virtual machine and click Choose a disk file from the options.

Step 18

Please confidently choose the Linux Mint 21 Cinnamon 64-bit ISO file you previously downloaded from this source and proceed to open it on your computer.

Step 19

To operate your USB 3.0/3.1 devices within the virtual guest OS, navigate to the device settings and activate the xHCI Controller.

Step 20

Run your prepared Linux Mint virtual computer.

How to Install Linux Mint using VirtualBox

After creating a new virtual machine for Linux Mint and adjusting the performance settings, you can start installing your system as if you were installing it on a physical PC.

Step 1

After running the Linux Mint guest machine, press Enter in the “Start Linux Mint” option in the boot menu.

Step 2

Wait while the Linux Mint system boots up.

Step 3

You can try before installing to experience the system when Linux Mint is opened, or you can start installing the system by clicking “Install Linux Mint” and opening the installation wizard.

Step 4

Indicate which language you want to use in your Linux Mint guest system by selecting one of the languages listed on the left panel and clicking Continue.

Step 5

Configure your virtual computer’s keyboard layout according to your host computer’s keyboard layout and continue.

Step 6

If you want to install the required codecs for some video formats on your virtual system now, check the Install Multimedia Codecs option and continue.

Step 7

Since you have installed a clean system, delete the virtual disk’s contents and check and confirm the changes on your disk after clicking the Install Now button.

Step 8

Select your place of residence on the map and continue.

Step 9

Type the name of your virtual computer and click Continue after creating a strong root password.

Step 10

Wait while the Linux Mint operating system is installed on the virtual computer.

Step 11

Restart your VM after system installation.

Step 12

Press Enter to eject the installation media from the virtual computer during reboot.

Step 13

Input the username and password that you have created, and confidently hit Enter.

Step 14

You can review some information about the Linux system in the Welcome window.

How to Install Guest Additions in Linux Mint Virtual Machine

After installing Linux Mint on VirtualBox, you must install Guest Additions to install the drivers for your virtual system.

Step 1

Click Devices / Insert Guest Additions CD Image from the tool menu of the Linux Mint guest machine.

Step 2

Click Run to start the installation from the VBox_GAs_6.1.36 media.

Step 3

After installing the Guest Additions software on the Linux Mint guest machine, press Enter and restart your system.

Step 4

You can check the full-screen resolution when you restart your virtual system.

Step 5

You can see that the file transfer is successful when you drag and drop a text document from the desktop location of your host system to your virtual machine.

How to Configure Shared Folder

You can make faster file transfers using the Shared Folder feature in the virtual machine.

Step 1

Click Devices / Shared Folders / Shared Folders Settings from the guest machine’s tool menu.

Step 2

After clicking the Add New Share icon in the Shared Folders settings, click the down arrow in the Folder Path section of the Add Share window and click Other.

Step 3

When the Select Folder window opens, create a new public folder in a specific location of your host.

Step 4

After adding the folder’s location, check the Auto-Mount and Make Permanent options and click OK.

Step 5

Suppose you get an error like the image below when you click on the Shared Folders shortcut created on the desktop of your guest machine. In that case, you must make the current user a member of the vboxsf group.

Step 6

Open the terminal, execute the sudo adduser $USER vboxsf command, and then reboot your system for the changes to take effect.

sudo adduser $USER vboxsfCopy

Step 7

When you check the public folder between the host and the VM, you can see that the Shared Folder feature works successfully.

How to Use USB Flash Memory in Linux Mint VM

A USB flash memory is another way to transfer files between your host and virtual computer. This way, you can quickly transfer documents with massive file sizes to your virtual machine.

Step 1

To start, confidently insert your flash drive into your computer’s USB 3.x port. After that, create a new folder titled “Backup”.

Step 2

Click Devices / USB / Your USB Name from the tool menu to connect your USB flash drive to the virtual machine.

Step 3

You can now seamlessly use your USB 3.0/3.1 devices in your Linux Mint virtual system.

Video

Installing Old Versions

Conclusion

In conclusion, you can achieve wonders with Oracle VM VirtualBox on your virtualization-supported host PC. One of these is to run and experience Linux Mint 21 on a virtual machine. Thus, you will have an extra OS without disrupting the existing operating system on your host.

Of course, no one can leave the Windows system they use first. In other words, it may force a direct transition to a system like Linux Mint since it has a more straightforward usage area. For this reason, I recommend you first experience a distribution like Mint in a virtual environment.

In short, if you follow the installation steps I have covered in full detail, you will have Linux Mint 21. Thus, in addition to improving your technical skills, you will begin to learn a more flexible system.